Leave Your Car at Home Today
• September 26, 2011

Every Sept. 22 on World Car-Free Day, the world is supposed to be a little bit cleaner. “We don’t have to accept our car-dominated society,” according to WorldCarFree.net, the organizers behind this annual event.

The local organizer, Car Free Day Metro D.C., gives you tips on how to be car free or car-light in the Washington Metropolitan Area, listing several optional recourses like Washington Area Bicyclist Association and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority on their website CarFreeMetroDC.com.

Organizers in the Washington area say that more than 9,000 people have pledged to participate in World Car-Free Day on Thursday, according to Associated Press, published in The Washington Post. On CarFreeMetroDC.com, everyone, including those who never use a car, can pledge to be car free by submitting a form. By pledging, you get a chance to win prizes like an Apple iPad. Pledging deadline is 5 p.m.

This annual event, which started in 2000, builds on the tradition of ad hoc car free days organized around the world since the 1970s. The World Carfree Network is now a global organization, encouraging and helping local organizations organize car free activities.

Accused of Wanting to ‘Bomb Georgetown,’ Muth Stays in Jail
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It’s never a good thing, especially in our post-9/11 world, to be accused of threatening to “kill all Americans” and “bomb Georgetown.” So continues the weird tale of the alleged killer of Viola Drath, who lived on Q Street.

Albrecht Gero Muth, 47, charged with the second-degree murder of his 91-year-old wife Viola Drath, was ordered to remain in prison by D.C. Superior Court Judge Gerald Fisher during a Sept. 9 hearing. Muth’s next hearing is set for Nov. 18.

There was “ample circumstantial evidence” which connected Muth to Drath’s Aug. 11 death, reported The Washington Post, which also cited the judge’s observation that Muth held “prior animosity toward his wife of 22 years and would benefit financially from her death.” The judge also concluded the the murder suspect was dangerous and likely a flight risk. Muth was arrested Aug. 16 by Metropolitan Police.

Muth protested during the hearing, claiming that he was a officer in the Iraqi Army and that his imprisonment was a violation of the Geneva Convention. The Embassy of Iraq has stated that Muth is in no way associated with any governmental agencies of Iraq.

Then, a new twist was revealed, as reported in the Washington Post: “The new allegations against Muth came from James Wilson, one of the lead homicide detectives investigating the case. Wilson said that Drath spoke with a lawyer about having Muth removed from her will about nine months before her death. She also solicited help from various people to have Muth deported because he repeatedly threatened and abused her and had threatened to ‘kill all Americans,’ Wilson said. In April, Wilson said, Drath told a witness that her husband had planned to ‘bomb Georgetown.'”

During the hearing, Muth’s defense lawyer Dana Page argued that there was no hard evidence against her client. The motives of witnesses were questioned as well as those of neighbors who had heard of domestic abuse and did not call police.

Weekend Roundup September 22,2011
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Toni Morrison at Hay-Adams Author Series

September 23rd, 2011 at 12:00 PM

$85 includes 3-course lunch, wine, tax and gratuity

rsvp@hayadams.com | Tel: 202-220-4844 | Event Website

Join the Nobel laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning author for a three-course lunch, talk, and book signing in celebration of her receipt of the Library of Congress’ 2011 National Book Festival Award for Creative Achievement.

The event will co-hosted by Hay-Adams President Kay Enokido and Marie Arana, Writer at Large for The Washington Post and a member of the Scholars’ Council at the Library of Congress.

Morrison’s books BELOVED and A MERCY will be available for purchase.

Address

The Hay-Adams

Sixteenth & H Streets, NW

Washington, DC

New Student Showcase: Almost Me and Outta Here

September 23rd, 2011 at 08:00 PM | $10 regular admission, $5 AU community and seniors |

auarts@american.edu | Tel: 202-885-2787 | Event Website

American University’s Department of Performing Arts showcases the talents of new students.

Follow the lives of incoming freshman students as the face the trials and tribulations of their first year in a higher education institution. Experience the “drama” that happens on and off stage as a group of freshman theatre and music theatre majors not only get acclimated to their new surroundings but prepare for the season’s big musical.

Book by Caleen Sinnette Jennings and Javier Rivera

Featuring music by Rob Rokicki

Lyrics by Rob Rokicki and Michael Ruby

Cara Gabriel and Carl Menninger, co-directors

Kristen Lee Rosenfeld, music director

Address

Harold and Sylvia Greenberg Theatre

4200 Wisconsin Ave. NW

18th Annual Fall Pumpkin Harvest Festival

September 24th, 2011 at 11:00 AM | lisa@tuckerpr.com | Tel: (214) 252-0900 | Event Website

This month-long festival begins Saturday, September 24 and will be open until Monday, October 31. After you pick your pumpkin off the vine, cheer on the swine at the Oinkintucky Derby Pig Races. Check out P-Rex – the pumpkin crunching dinosaur – and take in the panoramic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains as you zip down the 60-foot Saddlehorn slide. Other family-friendly activities include a farm animal barnyard, shopping at the ‘Roosteraunté’, hay mazes, and new giant rope swings. For times and more information visit www.greatcountryfarms.com.

Address

Great Country Farms

18780 Foggy Bottom Road

Bluemont, VA 20135

Andy Warhol: Shadows

September 25th, 2011 at 12:00 PM | Event Website

This fall, the Hirshhorn will present Shadows (1978–79), the monumental painting installation by Andy Warhol (American, b. Pittsburgh, 1928; d. New York, 1987), marking the first time all 102 canvases have been shown at once. Installed edge-to-edge as the artist intended, Shadows will extend nearly 450 linear feet around the outer perimeter of the museum’s curved second-level galleries, offering the public a unique opportunity to view the work in its entirety. Associate curator Evelyn Hankins is coordinating the Hirshhorn’s presentation of Andy Warhol: Shadows, which is organized by Dia Art Foundation. The foundation acquired the work in 1979. Through Jan. 15, 2012.

Address

Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden

Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

Show Up and Count for the Georgetown Ministry Center

September 25th, 2011 at 12:00 PM | $20 to $30 | info@gmcgt.org | Tel: (202) 338-8301 | Event Website

SHOW UP AND COUNT on Sunday, September 25, 2011 at Grace Church from 12:00-3:30 p.m. for Georgetown Ministries Community Mini-walk in conjunction with Fannie Mae’s Help the Homeless. Georgetown Ministries hopes to reach a goal of 350 participants so Fannie Mae will donate more money to help the homeless of Georgetown. To register for this event, go to www.helpthehomelessdc.org or call (202) 338-8301. To learn more about the Help the Homeless Program, please visit www.helpthehomelessdc.org.

Address

1041 Wisconsin Avenue

NW Washington, DC 20007

Ironman triathlete Brendan Brazier Speaks

September 26th, 2011 at 07:30 PM | rachel@trentandcompany.com | Tel: 212-966-0124

Join Ironman triathlete Brendan Brazier, author author of diet and fitness books Thrive, Thrive Fitness and Thrive Foods, for a discussion about his unique approach to nutrition and exercise, including a lecture on Vega, his own line of plant-based foods.

Address

Georgetown University Law Center, Hart Auditorium

Georgetown’s Thai Village
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The Royal Thai Embassy will be bringing a Thai village to the center of Georgetown on Oct. 1, from noon to 5 p.m. There will be performances and exhibits of Thai regional demonstrations and traditional food and drink for the attendees. Admission is free, while food and drink will be for sale. All are invited to attend.

There will be various performances, such as a Muay Thai demonstration, long drum dance, Thai musical tunes using traditional instruments and a Thai fencing baton dance. These performances will be held on Grace Church’s front lawn, which is across the street from the embassy.

Nipatsorn Kampa, a first secretary at the Thai Embassy, said there are going to be two types of Thai traditional performances available to see. One will be from the more mainstream style, originating in central Thailand, and the other one will represent the northeast region of Thailand.

“One of our purposes of holding this event is for cultural promotion. We want to reach out to the community, and that’s why we are hosting the performances at Grace Church,” said Kampa. “They are our neighbor, and we want to let the community know we are here.”

While Grace Church will be hosting the performances on its front lawn, the embassy will be opening its first floor to present the various dishes. They have gathered the Northern Thai Association, the Thai Isan (north east) Association, Washington, D.C., the Southern Thailand Association, Washington, D.C., and the Thai Ambassador’s Kitchen to provide the food dishes from the four respective regions of Thailand — North, Northeastern, Central and South.

Other activities will be taking place inside the embassy to acknowledge the ongoing relationship between Thailand and the U.S. There will be a drawing exhibit to show how American children look at Thailand, and their completed drawings and paintings will appear on display in the embassy. Chitaphan Barnes, a cultural project assistant working at the embassy, said there are many entries of drawings and paintings, and they have appointed judges to select the best content to display.

“They are still in the process of selecting the drawings, but they will be ready for the event,” Barnes said.

Weekend Roundup August 25, 2011
• September 22, 2011

War of 1812 Commemoration: Self-Guided Themed Tours

August 27, 2011 | 11-3PM |

Washington in flames could be seen as far away as Baltimore on August 24, 1814. Honor the anniversary of Dolley Madison’s flight, first to “Belle Vue” (today known as Dumbarton House), as the British advanced on Washington. Learn about the capital city during the War of 1812. After touring the museum, enjoy a sampling of “Dolley Cake,” Mrs. Madison’s favorite, a delicious caramel confection – while supplies last! Regular admission fee applies.

Address

The Dumbarton House

2715 Q St NW

Telephone: 202-337-2288

Sunday Community Yoga Class

August 28, 2011

Leanne Davis, our quarterly instructor and local yoga guru, leads a Vinyasa flow class, this and every Sunday in our in-store studio. Everyone is welcome; class is suitable for beginners and those more experienced in their practice. Bring a mat. Bring some water. And join us!

Address

Lululemon Athletica

3265 M St NW

Heidi Martin Sings George Gershwin!

September 1, 2011

Join us for a seated concert in the contemporary Belle Vue Room ballroom at Dumbarton House for our first-ever Gershwin concert. Chanteuse Heidi Martin will delight with classic Gershwin standards such as “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” and many more! Two sets of different music, and you are welcome to attend one or stay for both! Fee,concessions cash sales only.

Address

The Dumbarton House

2715 Q St NW

Telephone: 202-337-2288

Wine in the Water Park

September 2nd, 2011 at 07:00 PM | Free Admission |

Wine in the Water Park brings the mood-setting, ambient music of DJ Adrian Loving, wine and beer carefully selected by the Washington Wine Academy, and free snacks from Jaleo to the Crystal City Water Park (across from 1750 Crystal Drive). Taking place every Friday in September (September 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, and 30th) from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., the event gives residents, office workers, and visitors a great place to unwind after the work week.

Address

Crystal City Water Park (across from 1750 Crystal Drive)

International Salute Gala Dinner
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On August 24, 2011 at the National Building Museum, the National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc. has created the International Salute Gala Dinner to honor global leaders for peace. This formal dinner will initiated five days of Dedication events and commemorates the men and women who continue to pursue the dream of global peace and social equality, a goal championed by Dr. King in his universal message. [gallery ids="100277,107099,107115,107111,107107,107104" nav="thumbs"]

Obama’s Georgetown Visit Upsets Some Residents
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Yesterday evening, President Obama attended a fundraiser for the Democratic Party in Georgetown. The fundraiser was in the home of Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, former ambassador to Portugal, in northeastern Georgetown. Visits by Obama are usually welcomed in the area, but yesterday surrounding streets were closed for a long period of time, preventing people from getting home. One of the residents in the area, Ronda Bernstein, expressed her discontent in a Georgetown forum saying, as quoted in the Georgetown Patch, that “…it is UNACCEPTABLE for them to close off the sidewalks to those of us who live here and need to get home because the President is being entertained.”

Make Room on the Streets of Georgetown
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Yet another high-end men’s retailer is moving into Georgetown this September, according to the Washington Post. HMX Group’s store Streets of Georgetown will join the ranks of Jack Spade and Brooks Brothers, other newcomers to the M Street and Wisconsin Avenue menswear scene.

The new location will sell all six of HMX Group’s labels: Hickey Freeman, Hart Schaffner Marx, Bobby Jones, Exclusively Misook, Coppley and Christopher Blue. The brands range in style and price from very high to more moderately priced suits and casual-dress attire.

The company, which is based in New York City, is opening a similar store in Beverly Hills. Streets of Georgetown will replace Reiss at 1254 Wisconsin Ave., NW.
“There’s a new paradigm for the specialty store,” said Joseph Abboud, president and chief creative officer of HMX, to the Washington Post Aug. 21. “We want to show the full breadth of these brands in a laboratory, where we can try new things, test new things and see what the market will bear.”

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‘Tosca’ at the Washington National Opera
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There are at least three good reasons to see the Washington National Opera Company’s production of “Tosca” at the Kennedy Center’s Opera House.

They are Patricia Racette, Alan Held and Frank Paretta, the principals in this hugely popular and classically melodramatic opera. The fourth is Giacamo Puccini once again displaying all the reasons why he’s up there with Wagner, Verdi and even Mozart as composers of enduring operas.

“Tosca”— one of Pucinni’s three great operas that includes “La Boeheme” and “Madame Butterfly”—is probably the least familiar among his works, maybe because of its less comfortable setting (Rome in the time of the Naoleonic forays into Italy in the early 19th century) and because it isn’t stuffed with long arias or overly crowded with secondary characters. It’s Tosca, her boyfriend and her nemesis, and the rest are window dressings with lesser functions.
But Tosca, an almost feverishly passionate and direct woman, volatile as a volcano, is the main show.

She is an artist, a renowned singer (from whence we get the word diva, apparently), who’s in love with another artist, the appealing painter Cavaradossi, who sings like an angel on top of everything else. But then there’s Count Scarpia (a villain by any other name, but especially this one), the chief of the secret police, relentless, cruel, completely amoral, who’ll torture and kill anyone who gets in the way of what he wants. In this case, he wants Tosca and he’s got Cavaradossi, who’s hiding a rebel in his estate.

Scarpia puts Tosca in an impossible situation—he promises to let Cavaradossi go—staging a “fake” execution” if she succumbs to his advances, although he’s already come closing to raping her. But Scarpia has underestimated his prey even as she’s appearing to agree to the devil’s bargain.

And so it goes—love, murder, passion, betrayal and it all ends very badly, about as badly for all concerned as you get. “Tosca” puts the T into operatic tragedy to say the least. But this is what we want in tragedy—the fun and the kind of feeling and music can you get out of a happily-ever-after. Imagine if Romeo and Juliet had lived and gotten married. Not so much.

Puccini is every the innovator here: the arias—including the famous duet in the last act—are nothing less that focused, concise and powerful, not leaving room for anything less than powerful emotions. “Tosca,” like the upcoming “Lucia di Lammermoor,” is of course in the grand tradition of high dudgeon melodrama, full of improbabilities not the least of which was someone charging on stage announcing that “we’ve lost the battle.” “What battle?” you might ask, but never mind. A little thing like that never stopped lust, lost love and mayhem.

And Racette—who’s known far and wide for her “Tosca”—justifies the acclaim with her beautiful soprano voice, singing strongly and clearly, with very little, if any, showboating and a consistent acting performance that makes Tosca a full-bodied, full-blooded character.

Held, a bass—baritone who’s building a solid resume with Wagnerian performances, makes an imposing Scarpia, a man with giant appetites and a fierce, dangerous quality. He’s bigger than life and casts a huge presence. He’s answerable to no one, and you get a good idea of that when he sings of his plans and desires for Tosca wile a “Te Deum” can be heard in the background.

Tenor Frank Paretta, mainly through his gorgeous singing and his chin-out stances of bravery makes Cavaradocci a heroic, romantic figure.

You can also get a glimpse of opera legend Placido Domingo, no longer the man in charge at the WNO, but conducting for this production.

“Tosca” is the first WNO production in its new affiliation with the Kennedy Center and it’s a popular choice and a focused execution that delivers the considerable virtues of the work, it roars with melodrama, and affecting singing and performances.

Between Rain Drops, Fashion’s Night Out Parties On
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The show went on Sept. 8 despite the seemingly endless rain. Fashion’s Night Out in Georgetown involved businesses up and down Wisconsin Avenue and east and west along M Street. From Urban Chic down to M29, from a book signing at Appalachian Spring to fashion shows at Betsey Johnson and at the Latham Hotel, and over to the PNC parking lot for a photo booth and the Georgetowner office for a model shoot by Patrick Ryan, fashion fun-seekers checked out the scene. Dean & Deluca offered food and wine along with a deejay, and L2 Lounge was the place for the pre-party to kick off the night.

Started two years ago in New York, Fashion’s Night Out came to Georgetown last year with the help of the Georgetown Business Improvement District and other businesses. The Georgetown BID took the lead again this year. The co-hosts involved some favorite, fashionable usual suspects: Mary Amons, Annie Lou Bayly, Katherine Boyle, Kelly Collis, Marie Coleman, Rachel Cothran, Jeff Dufour, Lynda Erkiletian, Angie Goff, Walter Grio, Philippa Hughes, Samy K, Svetlana Legetic, Kate Michael, Sarah Schaffer, Janice Wallace, Andre Wells and Paul Wharton.

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